Two IAS officers in Uttarakhand have come to the faceoff over a liquor shop in Dehradun. Angry over his senior IAS officer and excise commissioner of the state, Dehradun district magistrate Savin Bansal has questioned former for staying his order to suspend the license and closure of a liquor shop without and valid reason.
The DM and Excise Commissioner Harichand Semwal are pitched against each other over a liquor shop which was suspended for running an open bar on Rajpur Road by the former. Bansal ordered suspension of license of the liquor shop at ‘Opal Lounge’ building and its closure while Excise Commissioner stayed it and ordered to reopen the shop allegedly not giving any legal valid reason in his stay. However DM refused to allow to reopen the shop resulting into big faceoff between the two IAS officers.
Responding to Semwal’s order, Bansal, a 2009 Batch IAS officer dashed a letter to the Excise Commissioner, a 2007 batch IAS officer, and asked him to tell the wrongs done by him in licence suspension and shop closure order. “On what basis the license suspension order was quashed” said he in his letter to Semwal. Bansal’s letter stressed that district administration was receiving repeated complaints ranging from overrating of liquor bottles to running and patronising open bars outside the shop illegally. The Letter further claimed that locals including large number of women and elderly residents of Rajpur Road had lodged series of complains that liquor was being served openly in the shop located at Opal Lounge Building along Rajpur Road. It was difficult mainly for women to even pass from near the building in question.
Public complaints resulted into DM getting it probed by SDM, Dehradun city. “It was found that a bar was being run illegally in the basement of Opal Lodge building. The licensed liquor shop was also serving drinks via its proxy illegal shops and kiosks set up in the vicinity without any permit” claimed the letter. After probe the DM imposed a challan (penalty) of Rs 5 lakh against the liquor shop and its license was suspended for 15 days. However Excise Commissioner stayed the DM’s order and allowed hotel owner to reopen the shop on the same day resulting into faceoff between two IAS officers.
Meanwhile ,Bansal has refused to allow opening the shop despite stay by the Excise Commissioner and informed him that allegations against the liquor shop were found true in the investigation ordered by him. Bansal questioned Semwal in his letter why suspension order of the liquor shop was stayed. He also asked him under which law and section stay was granted against his order to suspend the license of the liquor shop.